The new owners of the Jasper Coca-Cola bottling franchise plan to expand their community presence. Employees Gabriel Howard & JJ Davis on the job.

Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., announced today it closed the transaction with The Coca-Cola Company to expand its franchise territory into the Jasper area.

This transaction follows Coca-Cola UNITED’s December 2015 announcement in which it signed Letters of Intent with The Coca-Cola Company for the acquisition of the Jasper distribution territory, along with seven other territories in Georgia, including Atlanta.

“The Jasper Coca-Cola team is excited to become a part of the Coca-Cola UNITED family,” said David Kelley, sales center manager in Jasper. “UNITED’s operating philosophy is built on local relationships, personalized customer service, and active community engagement. Jasper Coca-Cola is ready to build on that tradition and grow our presence in this community.”

Jasper Mayor John Weaver welcomed the new company, “With their tradition of community involvement and the prospect of continued growth and additional employees, the city looks forward to a long partnership with Jasper Coca-Cola and its new parent company, Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED.”

Since 2014, Coca-Cola UNITED has successfully acquired 26 distribution territories and four production facilities from The Coca-Cola Company, adding approximately 6,000 new associates. In addition to Jasper, this recent transaction included seven other franchise territories in north and central Georgia. Additional acquisitions resulting in continued growth of UNITED’s footprint are planned through the end of October. These acquisitions are part of The Coca-Cola Company’s refranchising process which is leading U.S. bottlers to increase in size by obtaining more territory adjacent to areas in which they operate, thereby more effectively and efficiently serving their consumers, customers and communities.

Jasper Coca-Cola is a division of Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED (“UNITED”), Inc., which was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Birmingham, AL.

UNITED is the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States and the largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in the North American system. The company is engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Dasani water, POWERADE, vitamin water and many more beverages under exclusive franchise agreements with The Coca-Cola Company and other soft drink manufacturers. Coca-Cola UNITED is undergoing a major expansion, and by the end of 2017 will have approximately 10,000 associates located in 52 territories across seven southeastern states. For more information, visit us at www.cocacolaunited.com.